Fire Rescue
by ThunderScythe
Summary: On his way to his apartment, the BLU Soldier sees a crisis and goes to help.


On his off days he would stock up on cans of soup and stay in his dimly lit apartment until he was needed again. It didn't feel exactly right and probably didn't keep him any farther from the insane line but he didn't want to end up like those veterans who had to sit on the side of the road and beg random people for money. Wasn't right and he definitely was not going to lower himself to that level. Probably the only reason he stayed with Mann Co. other than the fact that he got to blow people to smithereens with multiple interesting gadgets.

He didn't contact anyone on his off days and no one bothered to contact him. Well not anymore anyway. He wasn't needed and he didn't make himself needed. He had received enough backtalk from his 'teammates' about his willingness to 'help' and so he just didn't bother too much despite the fact of him wanting to do good for the world. It was the reason he did what he did after all. Most of those war stories may have been utter shit but he did fly over there and did what he could, even if it wasn't anything impressive because he wasn't in a branch.

He took to ignoring the people on the street he was walking down, big brown bag full of soup in his hold. The kid at the the grocery store had the balls to ask if he wanted plastic and he almost punched his little acned face in for the treachery. A large crowd and a blazing light caught his attention and he shoved his way through to find a house on fire. The police had the crowd back at a distance but the fire department didn't seem to be there yet. For all the good those new fancy cars did if they couldn't even get to where they needed to be.

A woman had been pacing around one of the patrol cars covered in soot when something dawned to her and she screamed, grabbing one of the nearby policemen.

"My son!" She cried, hysterical, "He was asleep in his room!"

The policeman pried her off his uniform and grunted a reply out, "Ma'am you're just going to have to wait until the fire depo gets here. We're not suited for that kinda flames."

The woman grabbed at him again and shook him desperately. "Please! He's all I got left in the world after his father died!"

The policeman shoved her away with a growl. "Lady I don't care if he's the damned messiah! I ain't going in there!"

The woman staggered back before choking back a sob and covering her face.

Without prompt or question, the BLU Soldier dropped his brown paper bag onto the ground and stormed through the line of officers and into the building. The policemen gave chase but stopped short when they met the licks of the fire. Once inside he faintly heard one of them scream 'you're a dead man!' before focusing his attention to the building's schematics.

A foray greeted him with peeling walls and a roasted chandelier, a living room with burning furniture to his left and a hallway farther down to his right. He ran and just managed to beat the chandelier as it snapped and crashed to the ground behind him, sending glass in all directions. The hall was long and had multiple closed doors, some with flames poking out at the frames. He tried them all-bathroom, no; closet, no- he had to beat at the burning clothing stuffed into the closet until he shoved the door shut again; library, who the fuck owned a library in their house-? Not these people anymore- no; bedroom. Aha.

He studied the room before starting at the burning lump on the bed and rushed over, beating it until the fire died. He threw the blanket back and a stuffed turtle greeted him with a stupid smile on it's face and sunglasses. His frown deepened before he heard a shuffle and a whine from under the bed through the burning wood.

Kneeling down he peered under to see a boy about the age of six clinging to a folded up American flag covered in plastic. An ache started somewhere in the man's chest before he squished it down and reached for the boy's arm, tugging him out from under the bed.

"C'mon son before you suffocate." He muttered but the boy seemed to be a dead weight, refusing to move from the tight ball he had himself in.

"Leave me alone!" The boy cried, "You couldn't save daddy so don't bother saving me!"

"Dammit private I don't got time for this!" He growled and hauled the kid out, the child putting up a fight and eventually smacking his helmet off. The two stared at each other, one through tears and the other through a glare before the child sniffled.

"Daddy?"

"Not likely!" The BLU Soldier replied but the child went into his arms anyway, clutching the flag tighter to him in a form of shock. Soldier dug into his pocket when the kid started coughing and shoved a handkerchief over his face. "Here breathe through this."

The boy did as told, tucking himself into Soldier's arms as he was picked up and pressing his face into the man's shoulder. Something moaned above them before the ceiling came crashing down. Soldier dove for the door and rolled, covering the child as dust and soot in a large black cloud reigned down on them, the two coughing.

Soldier found it hard to breathe as the cloud cleared but forced himself up anyway, staggering through the hall and back the way he came to the front door. It seemed the house had other plans as there was a large support beam blocked their path. The child could crawl under it easy enough but Soldier would have to squeeze himself through and there wasn't time for horsing around.

Setting the child down he looked him in the eye and told him to get out to his mother before the house came down on them both. The last thing he saw before he choked on the smoke was the boy running for the open door. He didn't see him pause and turn back around.

Soldier found himself waking up later in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask over his face. Half delirious, he took the time for his eyes to clear before looking around, confused. Where the hell was his soup? Better yet, where was his helmet? Beeping machines took notice of him waking up but the person next to his bed took the notice more understandably.

"Well look who finally decided to join us." A half teasing voice rang out and Soldier lolled his head to the side to stare at the BLU Engineer. "Howdy." The Soldier just continued staring. "You better believe it was a surprise to me when I got a call saying my brother was in the hospital." The Engineer chuckled. "I don't have a brother, you see. I suppose those people up in Mann thought it would be the right thing to do to put me as your Emergency Call."

Seemed a little sad in Engineer's eyes that he was the only one on their team who would give two shits about the man. He shrugged it away to reach over and pick up a newspaper from the bedside table.

"Surprised me even more to see you in the paper. Although I see you a lot in the paper this one was a keeper." He turned the paper over after giving it a glance so Soldier could see it.

'LITTLE BOY SAVES GROWN MAN FROM BURNING BUILDING.'

A grunt escaped Soldier at the headline and he took a small time to study the picture of him knocked out and the kid dragging him out from the house by his hand, handkerchief tied around his face like a bandit and flag clenched in his teeth. He finally found his voice, although croaked. "Kid's safe then?"

Engineer nodded, "Safe and sound. Heard his mother almost had a heart attack at seeing him dragging you out like that." He chuckled fondly. "Kid's a hero."

Soldier turned away to stare at the mindless babble of the TV across the room. At least one of them was.

Engineer cleared his throat. "I uh. Got your helmet." He leaned over, half out of his chair, and plonked the beaten thing on Soldier's stomach. "A cop gave it to me when I was checking in at the nurse's station."

Soldier stared at the new burnt patch on it and the singed chin clamps before looking back at Engineer. "Thanks."

Engineer just smile back, "Ain't nothing to it, partner." His eyes, free from the goggles, widened in realization, "Oh," He uttered before giving into one of his many pockets. "The cop also wanted me to give you this."

Soldier watched as Engineer pulled out a thin black case and his eyes focused in on it in keen interest. The other man grinned as he clicked the case open and leaned over again to prop it against the helmet, Soldier's eyes following the case's every move until his pupils landed on a shining golden medal.

"He said something about turning over a new leaf and how he wanted to help people more and do his job right." Engineer scratched at his chin, "Or something like that."

Soldier stared at the medal for a moment, blocking out the world as his brain turned over the information it was given. With a shaky hand he reached up and touched the medal, tracing its contours softly. All he had ever wanted was to be recognized and now he had something to show for it.

The BLU Soldier snapped his hand back and frowned, slapping the case closed. Engineer frowned in confusion and caught the case when it slipped from Soldier's bulk. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want it." Soldier gruffly replied, grabbing his helmet and plonking it on his head, eyes effectively hidden.

"Now why not?" It seemed mighty childish of Soldier to be refusing something the way he did.

"Don't deserve it. Pity medal." Soldier turned his head away, frown growing and marring his features- what could be seen of them anyway.

"Now don't think of it like that." Engineer mused as he kindly brushed the case of the collected unforeseen dust. "You did something that no one else would've done. That's an honor. You can't simply turn down something like that now can you?"

"Just did." Soldier curtly replied, focusing his attention on the machines hooked up to him. "I don't want some chump's attempt at politeness. His pansy token of womanly affection isn't going to make me jump for joy."

"Well," Engineer said after a small pause of silence, "Don't take it because of the officer." The case clicked open again when he flicked it open with his thumb. "Hell don't even take it because I'm telling you too, or if you even want it." He tapped the medal with a fingertip before looking to the man in the hospital bed. "Take it for the boy you saved and how his life has changed because of you." Another lean, another placement on Soldier's chest. "Paper explained how before the fire the boy was all shy and more skittish than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Now he's all high spirited and out going. Thinks he can take on the world."

Soldier's eyes focused back onto the medal as the other man had talked, staring into its sheen and shape, the way it begged to be on someone's uniform. Wear me, it screamed. Wear me with pride.

"Just think," Engineer mused again, taking Soldier out of his thoughts, "Kid's going to grow up brave and helpful. Won't ever look back. Changed for the better and when he's going to reflect on it he's going to think back to the day some stranger saved him. Not for money or fame but just because it was the right thing to do."

Soldier looked to Engineer. "You trying to make me soft, private?"

The man chuckled, "No sir. Just trying to make you reconsider." He stood up and patted at his legs. "Been sitting here a while. Need to stretch my legs." Engineer chanced a teasing glance up. "Give you some alone time to get your brain back in order."

With a hardy pat on the leg, Engineer made his way out the room with a stiff legged wobble. Soldier watched him go before looking back to the medal, the object glistening innocently against the bedside lamp's light. A staring contest broke out for a few minutes before the man slowly removed the oxygen mask from his face, breathing in deep before steadily propping himself up.

The medal tumbled into his lap and he scooped it up before looking around the room for his clothes. They were folded neatly in a chair on the opposite side of the room. With a huff Soldier set to work pulling the things attached to him off; the machines went screaming but he gave them no heed as he threw his legs over the side and onto his feet. His butt hit the bed when his legs failed to support him at first but he stood again and gingerly made his way over, dragging to IV line with him.

Eventually he reached his clothes and he stood at them, staring down his uniform jacket. Its color was dulled and there was nothing special about it but as a nurse came in and started yelling at him to get back into bed he tugged the medal free from its case and bent over to grab at the front of his jacket. His fingers wobbled from having to steady themselves but he soon got it pinned down proper and when he straightened back up he stared down at his jacket, gold gleaming from the top left.

Soldier saluted his uniform, almost elbowing the nurse in the face, before returning to his cot, already feeling tired. Plus the added noise was distasteful. He settled in with less of a frown, feeling better about his point of view than he did before.


End file.
